Judge and attorneys Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presided over the case. Ellison was usually present in the courtroom but did not take part in making legal arguments. The prosecution team included Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank, serving as the lead prosecutor,
Jerry W. Blackwell, Steven Schleicher, and Erin Eldridge. Katyal said that Ellison invited the mother of
Eric Garner to the prosecution's daily meeting and that her presence highlighted how the Chauvin case was also an effort "to achieve a measure of justice for all the Black families who have lost loved ones to police violence but never saw a courtroom." Blackwell, a civil rights and corporate torts attorney, joined the prosecution team
pro bono. He is known for his ability to present complex legal issues in plain English to jurors. Chauvin was represented by defense attorney Eric Nelson, compensated by the Minneapolis Police and Peace Officers Association, which provides services to its members.
Jury signs outside the court building, March 15, 2021 On December 22, 2020, prospective jurors in Hennepin County were mailed a questionnaire asking about their views on the criminal justice system, the police, and social movements. The questionnaire also asked prospective jurors to disclose how many times they viewed videos of Floyd's murder and whether they participated in the
George Floyd protests. On March 8, 2021,
jury selection was delayed until at least March 9, pending consideration of the third-degree murder charge against Chauvin. Jury selection began on that day, with the third-degree murder issue still unresolved by the Court of Appeals. During jury selection, prospective jurors were questioned about their views on
Black Lives Matter,
Blue Lives Matter, and
defunding the police. Jurors were also questioned about Minneapolis' $27 million
settlement with Floyd's family, with two seated jurors excused after news of the settlement changed their ability to be impartial. Twelve
anonymous jurors and three alternates were seated as of March 23, with six white, four black, and two multi-racial jurors selected. On the third day of trial, a juror had a "stress-related reaction" but declined medical attention.
Opening statements Opening statements from the prosecution and the defense were heard on March 29, 2021. Nelson's opening statement drew attention to the eyewitnesses who watched Floyd's death, who he characterized as an unruly and threatening crowd.
Prosecution case The prosecution began its case on March 29, 2021,
Prosecution witnesses About 400 people were included on a list of prospective trial witnesses, but only 38 were called on to testify. The prosecution's witnesses were: • Jena Scurry, a
911 dispatcher who received the call about Floyd using a counterfeit bill; she viewed Floyd's arrest via live video, and was concerned about the manner of his arrest, leading her to call a police sergeant about the arrest. • Alisha Oyler, a bystander who filmed Floyd's murder. • Donald Williams II, a bystander and professional
MMA fighter, who testified that Chauvin's kneeling on Floyd's neck was applying a "
blood choke", that Chauvin was "shimmying to actually get the final choke in" on Floyd, that the arrest procedure was "torture", and that he called 911 on Chauvin because he believed he had "witnessed a murder". • Darnella Frazier and three other underage witnesses who witnessed Floyd's murder testified off-camera. Frazier is the witness who recorded the widely circulated video that challenged the initial police report. She testified that Floyd was "terrified, scared, begging for his life", and saying "
I can't breathe", while Chauvin "just stared at us" with "this cold look". • Genevieve Hansen, a bystander and
EMT-certified firefighter of the
Minneapolis Fire Department (MFD), who witnessed Floyd's condition and wanted to treat him but was not allowed. Hansen said she saw that Floyd "had an altered state of consciousness", because he was not responding to the "painful stimuli" of Chauvin's knee on his neck. She wanted to check Floyd for consciousness, start chest compressions, as well as render other medical attention, but was denied access to Floyd by the police. • Christopher Martin, an employee at
Cup Foods who allegedly received the counterfeit bill from Floyd. Martin said "it would appear that [Floyd] was high" but that he was able to talk and communicate. • Christopher Belfrey, a bystander parked behind Floyd's SUV who began recording a video after seeing officer Lane point a gun at Floyd. • Lt. Jeff Rugel, head of the MPD's business technology unit, who was familiar with
police body camera footage. • Courteney Ross, Floyd's girlfriend, who testified that Floyd struggled with an
opioid addiction after using opioids to treat back pain, that he had once been hospitalized for an overdose, and that he was in the car with a supplier at the time of his arrest. She cried while describing her relationship with Floyd. • Seth Bravinder and Derek Smith, Hennepin
paramedics who responded to the scene of Floyd's murder and testified that they saw no signs of breathing or movement by Floyd when they arrived, that they detected no heartbeat once they were allowed access to Floyd, and that they failed to resuscitate Floyd. Smith said that when they arrived, he believed Floyd was already dead. • Sgt. Jon Edwards of the MPD, who testified that he responded to the crime scene, told Lane and Kueng to turn on their body cameras, and attempted to interview witnesses. • Lt. Richard Zimmerman, an MPD homicide investigator and its most senior officer. • Bradford Wankhede Langenfeld, the Emergency Medicine resident physician at Hennepin County Medical Center who pronounced Floyd dead. •
Medaria Arradondo,
chief of the MPD. Arradondo testified that Chauvin violated department policy, training and ethics by continuing to restrain Floyd in that manner at various stages: when Floyd had ceased resisting, was "no longer responsive", and was "motionless". Alongside citing the "sanctity of life" and the "duty of care", Arradondo added that Chauvin had violated department policy by not deescalating the situation when possible, and by not providing immediate medical attention to Floyd. • Inspector Katie Blackwell, who was the commander of the MPD's training division at the time of Floyd's murder. • Sgt. Ker Yang, an MPD crisis trainer who explained that listening is key to crisis intervention and that officers "shall de-escalate" when "it is safe and feasible". • Officer Nicole Mackenzie, medical support coordinator, is the state's MPD expert on medical issues. Defense attorney Nelson questioned her about
agonal breathing which she explained as ineffective irregular gasps for air. Nelson questioned as to whether it can be confused with effective breathing during "certain circumstances where there's a lot of noise, or a lot of commotion". She replied in the affirmative but under further questioning by the prosecution when asked if a hostile crowd could excuse an officer from giving emergency medical aid Mackenzie replied, yes but only "if an officer was being physically assaulted". She also testified that even if a person can speak it does not suggest that they are breathing adequately. • Sergeant Jody Stiger of the
Los Angeles Police Department, a national expert on use-of-force by police. Stiger testified that the video showed Chauvin not changing the force he applied to Floyd's neck area during the restraint. According to Stiger, "no force was reasonable in that position" where Floyd was prone and handcuffed. Stiger testified that Chauvin executed a
pain compliance technique on Floyd's wrist and knuckles, even though Floyd was prone, not resisting, and apparently unable to comply; this technique was applied for an excessive period of time. Stiger disagreed with Nelson's assertion that Chauvin had placed his knee "on" Floyd's shoulder blades, rather than "above" them. • McKenzie Anderson, a BCA forensic scientist who processed Floyd's SUV and the officers' squad car and tested eight stains positive for Floyd's DNA, including seven blood stains. Tobin testified that Floyd died of low levels of oxygen caused by asphyxiation that resulted in brain damage and cardiac arrest, and that he did not die of a fentanyl overdose. She testified that there was "no evidence" that indicated that Floyd "would have died that night except for the interactions with law enforcement". Thomas said that the many videos of Floyd's arrest did not show signs of a death from a fentanyl overdose, as those deaths typically feature a person becoming "very sleepy" and then "peacefully stops breathing"; the videos also did not show Floyd experiencing a sudden death, as from a heart attack. He testified that he stood by his autopsy finding that Floyd's death was a homicide caused by "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression". • Jonathan Rich, a medical expert in cardiology, testified that despite seeing coronary artery blockage in Floyd's heart the heart is able to create new paths for blood to circulate and he saw nothing to suggest that a cardiac event played a role in his death. He also testified that he saw no evidence to suggest that a drug overdose caused Floyd's death. • Philonise Floyd, younger brother of George Floyd, who recalled the close relationship between his brother and their mother. Shortly after Floyd was taken away in an ambulance Chauvin's body camera shows him responding to a bystander who took issue with his kneeling on Floyd's neck. Chauvin responded to the bystander saying, "That's one person's opinion, we had to control this guy because he's a sizable guy. It looks like he's probably on something." Prosecutors also showed surveillance footage of Floyd at Cup Foods shortly before his murder. Tobin, an expert in respiratory failure, disagreed with defense witness Fowler's contention that carbon monoxide from the squad car may have played a role in Floyd's death.
Defense witnesses Chauvin decided not to testify in his own defense, exercising his
Fifth Amendment right. The defense's witnesses were: • Scott Creighton, a retired MPD officer who testified about a May 2019 traffic stop of Floyd during which he pointed his gun at Floyd because Floyd was "unresponsive" to commands to show his hands, adding that Floyd's "behavior was very nervous, anxious" during the previous incident. • David Fowler, a retired forensic pathologist said that the manner of Floyd's death should be classified as "undetermined" rather than "homicide". He testified, "In my opinion, Mr. Floyd had a sudden cardiac arrhythmia ... due to his atherosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease ... during his restraint and subdual by the police." In his determination both the drugs fentanyl and methamphetamine contributed to Floyd's death and exposure to vehicle exhaust could have potentially contributed by causing increased carbon monoxide in his bloodstream or even carbon monoxide poisoning. Fowler's evidence in Chauvin's trial was reminiscent of the cause of death given in the case of 19-year-old college student Anton Black, a black teenager who died in 2018 after being restrained and pinned to the ground by three white police officers. A medical report Fowler signed said the teenager's death was because of his heart issues and that it was an accident. Fowler is facing a lawsuit by Black's family, which accuses him of concealing evidence and protecting the officers. The
ACLU accused Fowler of "creating false narratives about what kills Black people in police encounters".
Footage of Floyd's previous arrest The New York Times reported that while trial judge Cahill tried to strictly limit Floyd's past acts and state of mind saying they were not relevant to the case, defense attorney Nelson was allowed to open Chauvin's defense with a video of a May 2019 arrest of Floyd related to previous drug use suggesting that it showed "a pattern of behavior in which Mr. Floyd responded to the police by panicking, implying that he faked his response". Nelson had previously said in court, "[Floyd's response] goes to the very nature of this case and why public perception is what it is; the things that he is saying. 'I can't breathe.' 'I'm claustrophobic.' Calling out for his Mama."
Closing arguments Closing arguments were made on April 19, 2021, after Cahill announced on April 15 that the "evidence is now complete for this case" and instructed the jury. For the prosecution, Schleicher opened his statements saying "His name was George Perry Floyd Jr.", adding later that Chauvin's behavior "wasn't policing, this was murder". On April 20, the jury announced it had reached a verdict after ten hours of deliberation. Chauvin was found guilty on all three counts, becoming the first white Minnesota police officer to be convicted of murdering a black person. It was only the second time an officer has been convicted of murder in Minnesota, the first being the third-degree murder conviction of Somali-American officer Mohamed Noor in the
killing of Justine Damond, a white woman. According to
Nielsen ratings, approximately 18 million viewers across six networks watched the live reading of the verdict. After the verdict was read, Chauvin's bail was revoked and he was remanded to the custody of the
Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, which transferred Chauvin to the
Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Motion for new trial Concerns surrounding juror partiality arose following the release of an image of a juror, Brandon Mitchell, wearing a "
BLM" hat and wearing a t-shirt stating "Get your knee off our necks" while participating in a march in
Washington, D.C. honoring
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. Chauvin's new trial motion was denied by Judge Cahill hours before his June 25 sentencing. Judge Cahill ruled the night before that Chauvin "failed to demonstrate ... the Court abused its discretion or committed error such that Defendant was deprived of his constitutional right to a fair trial" and failed to demonstrate prosecutorial or juror misconduct. On May 12, Judge Cahill allowed for the prosecution to seek a greater prison sentence after finding that Chauvin treated Floyd "with particular cruelty." Prosecutors requested a 30-year prison sentence, which was "twice the upper end of the presumptive sentencing range" and "would properly account for the profound impact of Defendant's conduct on the victim, the victim's family, and the community," according to a sentencing memo. Chauvin's attorney Nelson argued that the former officer should instead receive probation and time served, writing in a filing that "Mr. Chauvin asks the Court to look beyond its findings, to his background, his lack of criminal history, his amenability to probation, to the unusual facts of this case, and to his being a product of a 'broken' system. During their victim impact statements, members of Floyd's family expressed their emotional trauma suffered from Floyd's murder, and asked the Court for the maximum sentence. Chauvin's mother also delivered a statement on behalf of her family. In a statement, Chauvin expressed his condolences to the Floyd family, saying that "[t]here's going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest and I hope things will give you some peace of mind." Judge Cahill sentenced Derek Chauvin to 22.5 years in prison on his second-degree murder charge. The second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder charges were not adjudicated, as they are
lesser included offenses. As with other people convicted of murder, Chauvin is prohibited from possessing any firearms, ammunition, or explosives. == Reactions ==